


Operator Error

by wannaliveindeansdimples



Series: Smooth Operator!Verse [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Destiel - Freeform, M/M, Phone Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-19
Updated: 2014-02-19
Packaged: 2018-01-12 21:57:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1202047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wannaliveindeansdimples/pseuds/wannaliveindeansdimples
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean calls the sex line regularly. Then he drunk dials and Castiel makes a momentous decision.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Operator Error

**Author's Note:**

> There is no porn in this one. I am so sorry. Instead, have some angst.

 

* * *

It had been over 24 hours before Dean was able to call back again. When he finally had, Dean had been just as excited as Castiel had hoped by the idea that Castiel had gotten off to the rest of their fantasy without him. In fact, the idea had him close to the edge within minutes of Castiel answering the phone. Because he’d had to wait so long, Dean was once again loathe to get off the phone right away.

Cas certainly didn’t mind. He’d been anxious to hear from Dean since the day before and he wasn’t in a rush to end the call, either. He liked Dean’s voice almost as much as Dean seemed to like his. They chatted a minute or two about nothing much and then Dean mentioned how he’d found a recent perp because the guy had been staring at him.

“I mean, I’m a pretty good looking guy, but people don’t usually stare like that, you know? So I figured he must be up to no good and have a sense that I was involved with law enforcement.”

“Dean, I have to ask, and I hope you’re not offended, but, I mean...ok, I’m just gonna say it,” Castiel said, swallowing back his nerves. “You’re good looking, you’re smart, you’re funny…” Castiel didn’t want to finish the sentence.

Dean did it for him. “So why am I calling a phone sex line like some guy who can’t get a date when it’s obvious I can?”

“Well, yes, actually. Not that I’m complaining, believe me. Our first phone call paid my cell phone bill for the month,” he said with what he hoped was an obvious teasing tone to his voice. He was rewarded with a small laugh. “And I enjoy our phone calls, obviously. But, I just wonder why you’re not out...looking for something real.”

Dean sighed and Castiel wasn’t sure if he was angry or frustrated or just what. He almost wished he hadn’t brought it up, but Castiel felt like Dean should be out with someone who could see his face and feel those fingers and watch him smile.

“Cas, when I said I can’t ask for what I want in real life...man, you have no idea. Yeah, I’m good looking and yeah, I can be funny, and even charming. And I’m smart enough, I guess. When I’m face to face with someone, though, the funny and the charming...they aren’t the real kind. It’s like you said the other day, how you have to have your persona or whatever? That’s how it is for me. When I’m face to face, I don’t know how to be me. I can’t shut off that fake person and just be...Dean.”

“So, the person I talk to when you call me. That’s the real Dean?”

“Yeah, this is me. I can’t see your face, so it’s different. I don’t know. I can ask for the things I want and not be embarrassed or ashamed or scared you’re gonna judge me. So I don’t have to pretend.”

“No wonder you were so adamant that I not be fake with you,” Castiel said, more to himself than to Dean.

“Well, yeah, Cas, exactly. I mean, when I realized you had stopped being fake, it was like...it was like a victory, you know? And I don’t wanna give that up and go back to operator 918.”

“Fair enough. Look, as much as I am enjoying talking to you, I can’t in good conscience let you sit here and pay $3.95 a minute without at least trying to get you to hang up - or talk about another fantasy.”

Dean sighed again, this time disappointment evident in the sound of it. “Yeah. You’re right. I should go. I don’t think I’m up for another go around this time,” he said with a laugh. “I’ll call again, ok?”

“Goodbye, Dean.”

After that, Dean started calling at least once a week. He confessed after the third or fourth call that he couldn't really afford to call so often. He didn't stop calling or even cut the frequency, but sometimes after that admission, when he called he had already gotten himself almost there and just wanted Castiel's voice to push him over the edge.

As much as he hated to admit it, Castiel didn't like those calls as much, even though he did like that his voice could so easily trigger an orgasm in Dean. Those calls meant Castiel would not get to touch himself. And since he was keeping some of the calls short as a money saving measure, that meant that Dean didn't have time to chat after.

One week, Castiel got three of those calls and he was going crazy by the time Saturday night rolled around. He wouldn't admit to himself why he felt restless and unhappy, but on some level, he knew. It was so bad that during their last brief call, he'd considered giving Dean his personal phone number. He'd considered, in other words, doing it for free.

Then late on Saturday night, close to the end of his normal hours, Castiel got a call from Dean. His habit had become to mention cowboys in the recording, even though they hadn't talked cowboys since the very first time. This time he just said, "I don't even know." Castiel was mildly concerned, mainly because Dean's voice was low and slurred. Like maybe he'd been drinking.

"Hello, Dean," Castiel greeted him nervously.

"Hey, Cas." Dean's voice sounded like Eeyore might have sounded on downers.

Castiel thought about pretending he didn't notice, but he decided he couldn't and didn't want to, anyway.

"What's wrong, Dean?"

Dean gave a sad laugh. "'s nothin', Cas. 'm fine. Can we just, you know, talk tonight and not, um, not the other?"

Castiel was a little upset that Dean wasn't admitting that there was anything wrong. So his tone was a little cold when he said, "We can do whatever you want, Dean. You know that."

"Coz I'm buying, right?" His laugh was bitter and Castiel wasn't sure if that bitterness was directed at him or at Dean. "Yeah, ok. Well, I wanna talk. And then I want you to talk. But me first, ok, Cas buddy? Me first."

Dean started talking about the shitty week he'd had. He and his brother had lost two bounties in a row, which was a big shock not only to Dean's mind, but his ego. They had rarely lost a single bounty in the dozen or so years they'd been hunting. To have two go at once was bordering on completely unacceptable.

“And last night, was just the crap icing on the shitcake, man, you know? Coz my brother and I, we go out, right? To a bar, you know, to have a drink, take the edge off, kick back.” He laughed, but it sounded a little manic to Castiel’s ears and he didn’t like it. “And there’s this chick, right? Man, she was hot, Cas. I mean, seriously gorgeous, you know? And smart and pretty good with a joke, too.”

Dean’s voice was full of amusement, but Castiel didn’t feel very amused. He did not get the joke and he didn’t like the way his chest felt, either. He didn’t like it at all. Then Dean was laughing again, high pitched and sounding forced now to Castiel’s ear.

“And guess what, Cas? She wanted me to come home with her. She hit on me. More than once. She was totally ready to bang my brains out and never call me again.”

Dean was quiet for a long moment and Castiel was tempted to ask if this story was actually going anywhere that he wanted to hear, but he held his tongue and his breath, waiting for the rest of the story.

“And I turned her down, Cas. Turned her down and went back to the motel with my shocked as shit younger brother and I couldn’t even tell him why, so he thinks I’ve lost my mind or something.”

“Why did you say no?” The words were out of his mouth almost before Castiel even knew he was going to ask the question. Dean’s answer was suddenly very important. He didn’t know why. It shouldn’t be important. Dean was a client. Dean was no one he had ever even met. This shouldn’t matter to him at all. Why did it matter so much?

All laughter was gone now, replaced with sad confusion. “Because of you, Cas.” Castiel hoped the noise Dean made was not the half sob it sounded like. “Because I felt,” he whispered, “Like I would be cheating on you.”

Suddenly Castiel found it really hard to breathe. His chest felt tight and he didn’t know what to say or how to feel. Dean was a client, just a client...except he wasn’t. He hadn’t been just a client since sometime in the middle of the first phone call and it was time Castiel admitted it to himself. Still, Dean was paying to talk to him. He was doing it right now. For the first time, Castiel felt bad about that. Like he was taking something that he shouldn’t.

He realized he should have said something a second too late. “Yeah, ok,” Dean said, sounding lost. “I get it. I’m just a guy who pays. It’s nothing to you. All right.”

“No, Dean, wait. I’m sorry, I didn’t...That’s not why I didn’t say anything. Just hold on, I’m just...Do you have a pen?”

“Huh?” Dean was too drunk and confused to follow the subject change. “What for?”

“I’m going to…” Castiel sighed heavily, unable to quite believe what he was about to do. “I’m going to give you my number. My home number.”

Suddenly Dean was sober enough to find a pen in record time. He jotted down the number, repeated it back and hung up before Castiel could even tell him it wasn’t for sex. When his cell phone started to ring, he swapped the headset jack to it, hands shaking. This was the biggest rule break yet and he wasn’t sure if it was a mistake or not.

“Hello, Dean.”

“Hey, Cas.” Dean was suddenly subdued, almost shy. Castiel wondered if it was because now they were equals. Strangely, Castiel felt the opposite. He felt less inhibited now. Like he didn’t have to hide quite so much anymore.

“Dean, you should know, this...if you want phone sex again, you still have to call the other line, ok? This is...just for talking, all right?” He worried about how Dean would take that, but he had to establish boundaries for his own peace of mind. He couldn’t have Dean thinking he was just going to give his services away for free. He needed him to know this was separate. This was different.

“That’s ok, Cas. Thanks for...you know. The trust, I guess.” He cleared his throat a couple of times. He sounded a lot less drunk now. Castiel didn’t know how that was possible, but it was true, anyway. “So, uh, what did you think about...what I said? The reason I didn’t...”

“I should be telling you that you’re crazy, Dean. That you should’ve gone for it and taken that woman up on her offer. That I’m just a voice on the telephone.”

“But?” Dean asked hopefully.

“But I can’t tell you that. Because I was so fucking relieved when you said you didn’t, so fucking glad I wasn’t the only one feeling things I shouldn’t...that for the first time ever, I gave my personal number to someone I met through my work.” He refused to call Dean a client. Not now. Not when they were having this conversation.

“God, Cas, I felt like I was going crazy. Sam - that’s my brother - he was convinced I’d lost my mind. I’m kind of...well, I don’t turn down chicks in bars, Cas. I didn't know what to tell him, so I just said I didn’t feel like it.”

“I’ve been trying to convince myself I didn’t get excited every time you called. And that I wasn’t disappointed when it was those short calls.”

“Fuck, I hated those, Cas. I mean, obviously, I liked the part where I came, but I always felt like shit after.”

“Yeah.”

They were quiet for a minute or two. Castiel no longer felt the need to fill the silence, since it wasn’t costing anyone anything. Evidently, Dean felt the same. Finally, though, Dean was the one to break the silence, with the one question Castiel wasn’t sure he could answer.

“So, what happens now?”

 

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> The next one is almost all porn, I promise.


End file.
